When Bank of America announced that it was charging a $5 per month fee for debit cards in response to the a provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that limits fees that banks could charge retailers for debit card transactions, the conservative media went ballistic. A Wall Street Journal op-ed argued that consumers would be the losers because of the provision, which was championed by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL).

However, experts said that the Dodd-Frank provision would actually make the market more competitive, increase transparency and ultimately lead to savings for the consumer.

Yesterday, Bank of America announced it was abandoning its $5 debit card fee after an outcry from its customers and decisions by competitor banks not to charge a similar fee.

The Five's Eric Bolling and Greg Gutfeld, faced with this inconvenient truth, cast around desperately for an explanation that would not credit Durbin or the Dodd-Frank bill:

BOLLING: There's nothing to defend about it. Look when Dodd-Frank and the financial reg came down, it clearly told the banks that you're going to have to find other ways other than charging for ATM fees, charging for credit card fees, find other ways to generate income, that's what they do. So they tried a debit fee, it didn't work, they're changing their mind on it, but can we really talk about what -- why Dodd-Frank is in place. Even more importantly, yesterday we found out that Fannie and Freddie executives were going to be paid out $13 million in bonuses.

[...]

GUTFELD: Banks, banks, banks, they got to make money, somehow they've got to make money. OK, five bucks a month, that's fifteen cents a day, most people spend five bucks every morning on -- at Starbucks. I mean, and by the way, saying that when Durbin says, that this is proof that the free-market works, who on the planet needs proof? We won the Cold War. I mean we've got to send a singing telegram to Congress and say yeah, remember, communism is dead. Enough with the proof that the free market works.

[...]

BOLLING: Dick Durbin calling out Bank of America is what part of the free market working? I'm just trying to figure that out.

BOB BECKEL (co-host): It's corporate America hiding fees, banks. Hiding fees from their customers.

BOLLING: But then the customers can say it we don't want it, not Dick Durbin going hey by the way --

BECKEL: But they couldn't find it.

So the provision in question forced the banks to stop charging a hidden fee and allowed the free market to decide whether banks could charge the same fee in a more open way. If Bolling and Gutfeld really cared about having a free market, they should be applauding this provision, not trying desperately to find a way to criticize it.